


Glow

by Storm_Theory



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Additional Tags to be Added Later(as I remember them), Altean Lance (Voltron), Bonding Moments™ - Freeform, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Fight Scenes, Fluff, Galra Keith (Voltron), Glowy bits, Guardian Animal AU, Hunk is the best bro, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is trying his hardest, Lance (Voltron) gets protective, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Probably Slow to Update, Referenced Smut, Singing, Slow Burn, Song references, Welcome aboard, blue is a sweetheart, don't be afraid to yell at me in the comments, eventually, probably memes too, references to shows and movies, so yell at me to do that, this is gonna be a long one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-03-18 21:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13689903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storm_Theory/pseuds/Storm_Theory
Summary: It's been there as long as Lance can remember. Ice, running through his veins and guiding him gently along. It led him to his best friend, his school, and now it led him to victory. Here in space, his bright blue tug was ever present.(I'm bad at summaries but Lance can eventually change into a big protective lion bear with me)





	1. Chapter 1

All eyes were trained on him once again. Amusement and taunts hidden in the depths. ' _Yeah, whatever. Let them laugh. At least I saved Pidge some trouble_.' Biting back a retort, Lance strode through the crowd and back to his room.

He fell backwards on to his mattress, the thin blankets bouncing up around him before settling. Lance let out a soft sigh as his best friend entered behind him, sitting on his own bed.

"We'll get it next time buddy, you'll see!" Hunk cheered softly, attempting to lift his spirits. It worked, however, because who on Earth could stay upset when their best friend is sunshine incarnate?  
"You bet we will!"

Hours later, however, instead of studying, Lance had pulled Hunk along for an 'escape mission'. Despite many protests from his best bud, they ended up of the roof anyway. Lance passed the solar panels, while Hunk inched along.  
"Hunk, buddy, relax." Ah, natural charisma.  
"Yeah, easy for you to say!" Hunk whined, inching closer. Ready for that, Lance had an answer before a soft beep grabbed his attention instead. 'Ah, a stray pidgeon!' Lance dropped into a crouch, alarming Hunk but creeping forward anyway.

"Hey!" Lifting the headphone off of Pidge's ear to catch her attention had it's desired effect, startling the smaller student. Back and forth bickering ensues, before Lance fades out of the conversation by a familiar tug. It directs his gaze upwards, towards the star-dappled sky, an icy stream through his veins. He has no clue what it means this time, though. Up? He couldn't get any more up without a ship.

While he was pondering on the pull, single words floated into his ears from his friend's conversation. Something about aliens, ' _Pidge is totally convinced that they exist, right?'_ and some " **Megatron** ", but that didn't sound right so it's safe to say he didn't catch it properly. Lance could see the edge of his vision start fading to blue, before a loud shout and bright flash brought back his senses.

And those senses told him there was something speeding towards the earth, coming from absolutely nothing but the expanse of sky stretched over the desert. Vaguely aware of a lockdown from the loudspeakers, and Hunk starting to panic. Pidge lifted binoculars to their face, training their sights on the large object.

"No, it's...it's a ship!" Lance wrapped his hands around their smaller ones, lifting the binoculars so he could catch the same image. "Yeah, no kidding! It's not one of ours, either!" Curiosity piqued, Lance almost missed Hunk's panicked' 'Wait so there really ARE aliens out there?' before the ship crashed into the canyons, an explosion of light erupting from the crash point.

Pidge turned to him, slipping their backpack onto their shoulders and looking up at him with wide, excited eyes. "We have to see that ship!" Who was he to say no to them? They ran off, Lance turning on his heel and calling out for Hunk over his shoulder.

* * *

Minutes later, the trio was perched upon an outcropping, Pidge at their computer and Lance taking in the scene layed out before them. "Alright, this is cool, but shouldn't we head back to the barracks?" Hunk asked, expectantly leaning over his companions.

"Hold on!" Pidge exclaimed, "They have a camera feed up!" Within moments, an image took place of all the coding on their screen, presenting them with a male strapped to a table with three surrounding scientists. Lance immediately recognized him as Shiro, the pilot of the Kerberos mission. Pidge mumbled something about the crew, when the scratchy feed told them his arm was replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic. Shiro was frenzied, shouting about how aliens were going to come, then said something about finding a "Voltron". Pidge gasped next to him, repeating the word, as the scientists on screen planned to put him under, while the pilot begged for them not to.

"The dude's a legend, and they're not even going to listen to him?" Lance asked no one in particular.  
"We have to get in there," Pidge said adamantly, locking eyes with Lance. Behind them, Hunk stood straighter.

"Uh, I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but aren't we watching through a camera feed because we can't get past the guards?" His voice rose towards the end, trying to get his point across. Lance looked up, making eye contact.

"Well, yeah, but that was before we had proper motivation! Now we just gotta figure out a way to get in..."

Cue several second explosions distracting the guards, Lance spying someone he didn't think he'd ever see again, (seriously, who wears a  _ **MULLET**_  anymore?) quick bickering, doing a complete nosedive off a cliff, and here we are. In Keith's dusty shack in the middle of NOWHERE.

Lance couldn't really follow, but apparently Keith and Shiro knew each other, and Keith had been tracking some energy source in the area. He stood behind the group, barely keeping track of what was being said before it returned. This was the most active it had ever been, twice in only hours? It's pull was a quick tug towards the map on the wall, before a violent wave out towards the desert.  
Lance stumbled back, hands quickly grasping the window sill to keep from falling on his ass. Shaking his head, Lance was barely aware of the confused stares on him until Hunk crooned softly, a wordless question.

"Sorry guys, didn't mean to interrupt you..." He spoke, standing up quickly and shoving his hands in his jacket pocket.  
"No, uh, we had just finished actually," Shiro answered, releasing some of the tension in his shoulders. "We had asked you a question, but you didn't answer for a moment, then you...fell..back..." Pidge finished, confusion lacing their words more than concern.

"Oh! Uh, what was the question?" Lance tilted his head, shuffling awkwardly as he tried to move past his little episode. Pidge lifted their backpack up, showing it to him.  
"We were going to track the energy source, are you ready?" Lance nodded, eager to get out of this small space and away from his shame. Pidge pulled the monitor out of her backpack, handing some device that looked like a miniature sattelite to Hunk. The door was small, clearly suited for Keith only, so the group slowly trickled out into the harsh sun. Hunk swept his device back and forth before latching onto something, and the group trekked across the cracked ground.

* * *

Not long after they set out, they came upon a hollow with a cave leading deeper in. It got darker the more they went on, looking around them in awe. "What are these?" Shiro asked, looking at a particularly intricate drawing above him.

"These are the carvings I was talking about. They're everywhere in here," Keith answered. Lance neared a wall to get a better look, wiping some dust away. All at once, the carvings lit up, a bright blue that took over his vision and showed him stars, galaxies he had never seen in all of the Garrison books, a strength he'd never felt before, the startled yells of his companions fading away into nothing until the ground fell away beneath them, and they landed in a stream of water. Lance was fully aware of everyone screaming, and he might've been too, but the cold water was rather a warm embrace, and he had a weird understanding of why he adored water so much. They landed in a pool, and while the group slowly gathered their bearings, Lance was already up and continuing down the cave in a trance-like state.

He came upon a translucent forcefield, and his gaze locked upon the being inside of it.

> _'That's me.'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter was more canon-compliant, this chapter is where things will start to ultimately change more.

The freezing air enveloped his skin, the chill seeping into his bones as he sat perched upon his chair, focusing on his lion and connecting her to the tug inside him. He understood that the lion wasn't the pull itself, but could help him understand it.

The comms in his lion crackled to life, and Lance blearily opened his eyes, not ready for such an abrupt interruption.

" _Lance, breakfast is ready. Are you coming?"_ Hunk asked. Leaning forward, Lance pushed a button to respond. "Just a moment, big guy. I'm in the hangar," he responded, patting the control panel softly and standing to exit his ship. He was still a little lost with all this 'Voltron' and 'defeating the Galra' nonsense, but that was still the least of his worries.

As Lance walked down Blue's open maw, he thought of home, how he never got a chance to say bye, and how he probably wouldn't see his family again. Not for the first time, he felt a pang of homesickness, and he'd only been in space for a couple days. He walked down the bland walls, each new hallway a mirror of the last.

Eventually he walked through the door to the kitchen, greeted with a smile from Hunk and a more verbal reaction from Coran, who had easily made himself the odd uncle of the group.

"Greetings, Lance! Where have you been?" Coran, just like the princess, had a heavy accent that easily passed through his moustache. Lance could only conjure a small smile and explain he was with his lion, doing some bonding. It's not like he completely lied.

"That's great Lance! Getting to know your lion better can only make Voltron stronger!" The praise came from Allura herself, and honestly wasn't too surprising since the princess was completely focused on training them. Almost everyday there was a new training exercise. Lance nodded, sitting down at the table as Hunk slid him his food goo.

After quiet small talk got too awkward to keep up, Allura slid out of her chair to stand and address the room. "Paladins, your attention please," she started, before realizing she already had five (six, if you count Coran) pairs of tired eyes on her. Clearing her throat, she continued speaking. "I have devised a new training exercise, one that should help you form Voltron. We'll do one more mind melding exercise, then gather outside on the bridge for further instructions." 

She exited the room, leaving the paladins to groan quietly. Lance hated the mind melding sessions. Not only did it always feel like someone was poking around in his head, but each time he wore the helmet it had an oddly familiar weight on his head, which was beyond confusing because everything he'd encountered in the last 72 hours was completely foreign.

The group finished their food much slower, attempting to prolong the inevitable. Eventually, when even Shiro couldn't pretend anymore, they got up and slumped their way through the hall and into the training room, focusing on Allura once more. Or, more specifically, the objects in her arms.

"Cheer up everyone, this can only help you!" The princess scolded, setting a helmet on each paladin's head in turn. Lance took his place on the floor, not ready for the sequence to start yet. He closed his eyes only when everyone else had sat down, and a soft hum enveloped his mind.

* * *

 

_Crack._

_Pop-pop._

_Thump._

Once he finished stretching, Lance draped himself over the counter, listening to Hunk softly hum a foreign tune and cook up a storm with even more foreign ingredients. The training exercise had been hell, Allura had activated the castles defense systems in an attempt for them to connect and form Voltron.

Of course, it had failed.

"Hunk, buddy, do you even know what your doing?" Lance asked, locking his ocean eyes on his best friends figure. Hunk had spent a good hour taste testing everything in the space kitchen, and he only vomited twice. Broad shoulders shrugged.

"Yeah! Maybe. It's orange and green, but it tastes like meatloaf so I'm pretty sure it worked," the yellow paladin answered, pulling out dishes and setting up servings. "Can you go tell everyone that dinners done?" Hunk asked, turning to look at Lance as he heaved himself upwards.

"Sure thing bro." Lance ambled out of the room, shoving his hands in his pocket as he looked up and down the hall. Shrugging, he decides to head to the bridge first because at least Coran would be around. Lance stepped into the open room, gaining the attention of the two Alteans and Shiro.  _'Nice. This is half of my job done.'_ "Dinner's ready. Hunk told me to gather everyone." He left them to head out on their own discretion, because they were the 'adults'.

It took him longer to find the remaining two paladins, if only because he almost missed Pidge as they were ducked into an alcove. He relayed his message, receiving an affirmative grunt in return, so he sauntered out. Of course. Leave it to Mullet to be the hardest to find. Lance debated even trying, because why would he care, right? Shaking his head, Lance gave himself about three minutes of looking before giving up.

Lance counted the seconds in his head, poking his head into empty rooms. He hit the  **2:37**  mark before he passed the training room door, and was yanked back into the door, collapsing as it slid open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 5 tho am I right?


	3. Chapter 3

Lance stayed sprawled along the ground for several long moments, as his brain slowly pieced together that it wasn't an external pull. He could've sworn that there was a hand on his hood... Shaking his head, Lance tilted his chin up to peer into the room as the sounds of clashing metal reached his ears. 

He watched Keith dance across the training room floor, meeting every one of the Gladiator's swings with one of his own. Lance watched his swift movements as he finished up the current level of training and began to start the next one. With a jolt, Lance realized watching his rival play sword was not why he was here.

Jumping up, Lance shook his head before turning to the room. "Hey,  _Mullet!_ Dinner's ready!" Then, without waiting for a response, he quickly stalked off, back towards the dining room. He swiveled on his heel, entering the room and easily falling into his seat next to Hunk, who offered a soft greeting. Lance nodded in response, falling into his seat in between Hunk and Keith.

Lance's focus drifted between listening to Hunk, Pidge, and Coran talk about the technology of the castle and deep inside his head. While he had multiple questions about his new situation, one in particular fought it's way to the front: why did 'it' pull him towards Keith? Lance quickly glanced to the red paladin sitting next to him, confusion stirring in his gut. Maybe...maybe it was just helping him find Keith. Yeah, that had to be it.

Lost in his own head, Lance didn't notice everyone staring at him until Hunk, what a bro, gently nudged him in the side, causing his head to jerk up. Several pairs of eyes were on him, and Lance felt his heart rate pick up.

"D-Did I miss something?" He managed to push out, glancing quickly at everyone else in the table. _'Just like at the shack.'_ Shiro shook his head, and the movement caught his attention. Next to him, Hunk,  _'again, what a bro'_ leaned over.

"Coran asked if you were alright, because your really quiet," he whispered, straightening back up. Lance let out a soft puff of relief, before pulling a smile on to his face.

"I'm just fine, I've got a lot going on in my head. Sorry guys!" Everyone around the table visibly relaxed, and Pidge and Allura resumed their conversation about the lions. Out of the corner of his eye, Lance saw Keith shake his head slight, his gross mullet falling over his ears.

"Hard to believe there's anything up there, let alone enough to keep you quiet. For once." He scoffed, leaning back in his chair. Lance felt anger boil pow in his gut, and he clenched his fist to keep from punching the guy.

"No one asked you,  ** _mullet_**!" He hissed, eyes narrowing. His vision turned blue for a moment, outlining Keith in a vivid light before he slammed his spoon down, Keith looking at him bewildered as he felt an unfamiliar rage, storming out of the room and down the hall, his feet taking him who-knows-where.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soRRY it took me so long to update, and this chapter is shorter because I wanted to get an update out. The next chapter should be longer, and be more of just Lance by himself. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Lance heard Hunk and Shiro call out for him, trying to calm him down and get him back to the table. He tuned them out, anger clouding his vision until it abruptly vanished, and he looked around to find himself standing in front of Blue.  _'At least I have SOME comfort in the cold abyss of space.'_ Lance walked into her maw, a cold but comforting prescence making itself known as Blue closed her mouth, providing Lance some space and time alone.

So, he used it. Sitting in his seat trying to figure out what happened to his vision, why Keith made him so mad, and why Keith almost looked scared. Giving a frustrated sigh, Lance slumped down and stared at the sleek roof of his lion.

"Do you know what's going on, Blue?" He asked, rhetorically. He got a response, however. Just above the control panel, the glass turned reflective, and Lance leaned forward for a better look. He scanned himself-maybe he needed to clean up?- before finding out exactly why Keith reacted in such a way. His irises, once ocean blue, glowed an icy cerulean, his pupils appearing full of snowflakes.

"Que mierda!? Blue, how do I get rid of it?" Lance panicked, his lions essence trickling through his veins. He got it. Taking slow breaths, Lance calmed his heartbeat, relaxing himself as much as possible before cracking open his eyes. In the 'mirror', his eyes were completely normal. The blue paladin sighed in relief, when his lion reversed the effects and showed him what she saw. Keith was entering the hangar, looking around cautiously.

Lance scowled, what the hell did this Hot Topic reject think he was gonna find in  **his** hangar? He told Blue to make sure she was shut down, so even if Keith looked he wouldn't know Lance was in his lion. He stood from his seat, leaning over the panel to watch his fellow paladin. Keith was approaching his lion, not like there was anything else in the hangar, and stared up. Blue was still, dark, freezing to the touch, which Keith quickly found out as he laid a hand on her claw only to jerk it backwards. Lance stifled a laugh, the red paladin wouldn't hear anyway but he felt the need to stay silent.

"Blue? Do you know where Lance is?" Keith's voice floated up from below, and Lance felt it before it even happened.

"Blue don't you dare-" Lance's threat was cut off as the lion lowered her head to ground level, eyes lighting up once more and jaw opening. Lance quickly turned and ran to the back of the cockpit, where some lockers were built into the wall. He quickly slammed himself shut in one, hoping Keith hadn't walked in to see.

"Lance? I know your in here. Blue wouldn't have opened up otherwise." Lance heard his footsteps on the cold metal, approaching the lockers. The one across from him opened, then the one next to it, then the one next to him, and then...Keith pulled on his locker, and it would have opened if Lance wasn't holding it shut from the inside. A sigh reached his ears, only making Lance more determined to keep this think sheet of metal between them. Keith was physically stronger than him, so the next couple times he pulled a slit appeared on the side.

"Lance, let me open the door."

 

No response. Lance refused to give in.

"Lance."

He bit his bottom lip.

"Lance I will stab my sword into this locker."

Keith pulled once more, and Lance pushed with all he could manage, and the locker flew open and knocked Keith back. It took him by surprise, so while he was stunned on the ground, Lance darted out of the locker, down the ramp and into the hangar. He had long legs and good stamina, and he used them. Around corners, through hallways, in and out of rooms. Keith wasn't the red paladin for nothing, though, and while he was shorter, he was quick to bounce around corners that Lance skidded around, and could cover about the same amount of ground Lance was.

"Goddammit Lance! Stop running!" Keith's voice was much closer than Lance expected, adrenaline pumping itself fresh through his veins. The blue paladin darted around a new corner, into a new hallway that was much dimmer than the last, dust coating the ground. Lance had no time to look around, but his adrenaline rush kept him going even though it was harder to breathe. He heard Keith slip behind him, and was thankful his shoes had better grip on the dust than Keith's boots had. 

The further he went, the darker it got, and he slowed down a little, looking back and forth between a fork. Lance took a second to glance back, seeing Keith a couple feet behind him. That familiar feeling ran through him, and he took off towards the right. Everything around him had a blue glow, but Lance could bet it was whatever happened earlier allowing that. He slid to a stop in a room that he would bet was pitch black, an old couch covered in dust on the opposite wall, and whipped around. Keith was stumbling slowly down the hall, unable to see as Lance could.

He looked up and locked eyes with Lance, and his footsteps became much more sure. The Cuban's breath came out heavy but quietly, knowing that since he looked back Keith surely could see his eyes, which were surely  _glowing_ again. Lance straightened up, unwilling but ready to face his rival, who was now staring directly into his eyes, mere inches away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SORRY it took me so long to update this, I have no excuse and may or may not get better. Thanks for reading anyway. Oh! What are your guys thoughts on season six?


	5. Chapter 5

The only sound to reach his ears was ragged breathing, echoing off the metal walls. Keith's eyes were oddly purple, filled with anger as he stared at the taller paladin.

"There's nowhere left to run, Lance," he gasped, slightly hunched as they both recovered from the sprint. Lance made a show of looking around, because he knew Keith could see his eyes.

"Really? I hadn't noticed, Keith!" Lance bit out, his breath coming back to him as well as his anger. "There's no way I would have noticed I hit a dead end, if that wasn't obvious from me  _stopping._ "

Keith narrowed his eyes, straightening up and marching towards Lance, who in turn stumbled backwards until he hit the cold, metal wall, Keith stopping inches away.

"Why the hell did you run, Lance?"

"Why the hell did you _chase me,_ Keith?"

"Answer my question first!"

"Why should I!? I left meal time so you didn't have to deal with me ruining your atmosphere, but you're the one who followed me into my own lion and chased me when I left, again!" Lance got in a lot of dumb arguments with Keith, over petty things, but he couldn't lose this one. He had done nothing wrong this time!

"You..! That's not the point! You can't just run off like that!" Exaggerating his point, the red paladin waved his arms around angrily.

"Who's gonna stop me, Keith?" Lance enunciated with a growl, gritting his teeth and glaring at his shorter rival, who effectively shut down the arguments himself by not answering any questions.

Perfectly fine leaving him to find his own way out, Lance turned his new eyes to the hallway and stepped around Keith, speed walking through the dark, despite hearing Keith call out behind him.

* * *

Keith knew he messed up, but the only thing he was good at was fighting and piloting. Arguments came fairly easy to him, being hot-headed, but in this case, there was nothing he could do. If it wasn't bad enough having Lance's odd, ethereal eyes piercing through the darkness, the blue paladin actually brought up valid points that he really had no way to counteract.

He should have been fine with Lance leaving the meal. He shouldn't have joined in looking for him. And he had no idea why he chased him. Keith reasoned that for the last point, it was some weird instinct? Like a child playing tag, when someone ran from you, naturally, you'd try to chase them, right?

Keith's train of thought was going nowhere, and he was sitting frusturated in an unknown part of the castle. There's no way Lance knew where he was going, but he could probably see, based on previous occurances. Keith's only hope was to uselessly wave his arms around hitting walls until it got lighter.

 

 So that he did. By the time Keith heard another person again, he knew there was going to be several bruises on his upper body, and his nose really hurt. It hadn't gotten any lighter though, so Keith had no idea who it could be. By the time he knew, however, it really should've been obvious. From around a corner appeared those two unfamiliar yet recognizable eyes, glaring at him icily. Before he could speak, a hand wrapped around his wrist and Lance turned, pulling him through the dark hallways. For the first time in a while, Keith felt physically uncomfortable, and desperately wanted to break the tense silence. He had nothing to say, though.

Eventually, the dark black turned into a grey, and Keith could make out his surroundings once more. The voices of his teammates met his ears, and he felt relief. Lance let go of his arm, and his eyes had stopped glowing a few hallways back, and the blue paladin continued on his own, pushing past the group and ripping his arm away when Hunk grabbed him, leaving them to focus on Keith and bombard him with questions. Keith only barely saw Lance walking away over Shiro's shoulder, before he turned and disappeared from view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE!! Okay seriously though, it took me awhile to get back to this because of a lot of garbage happening at home. I'm not sure if I'll finish this, but idk maybe if one of you want me to I will. Also next chapter will be back in Lance's POV again.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, the first few chapters might have a few skips in them. I'm trying to refer to Pidge as gender-neutral, but if I mess up feel free to point them out because it happens often. I don't know how often I'll update, but if you feel it's been too long just yell at me here or on Tumblr (@storm-theory; I'll link it later). <3


End file.
